Tolkan Campground

When I researched this, I was looking for a bit out of the way but I did not fully expect that even the paved access road might be challenging with steep grades and hairpin turns. In rainy weather rowing speeds were very low. The last 4 miles was not paved but the road was good quality. We enjoyed our stay and in better weather would have stayed longer to explore the hiking.

Thought we’d check this place out after reading reviews. Looked like a nice peaceful spot in the woods, and with a toilet @ 8 bucks, we were sold. And it was a nice spot in the woods, with a nice clean no-flush toilet. Heads up – if you go here, be a really good driver, don’t look over the edge, pray that no one comes down while you’re going up, that it doesn't rain, and use first gear for the last 3 miles. It takes a really really long time to get up here, and so not a good spot for a one night “along the way” place to camp. Looks like there are super nice mountain bike trails here and that’s why people come. There were 4 other campers here and plenty of privacy between the sites, each with a table and fire pit, but wouldn’t try this with anything bigger than a small RV, or an 18’ trailer pulled by a tow vehicle w 4 wheel drive. Once you arrive, there are no amazing views because you’re in the woods. Because you’re in the woods, you’ll have little opportunity to cash in on solar power. So in the end, there are better choices for peaceful places to boondock than this one. Oh yeah, I almost forgot one other minor detail. A woman staying here had 9 dogs and 3 cats. Yes, the dogs barked. A lot. Often. As we were settling in, they charged into our site unprompted and barking (and unleashed of course), then she came to get them and apologized. She told us they were dog/wolf mix. 55% wolf, specifically. Eight of them, and an elderly Yorkie which we didn’t see. She also confessed to having three cats with her. Not making this up. One of the cats came over and sat on our table just after I fell asleep and starting making strange cat noise like loud meowing. This was on April 25, 2019, so if after reading all of this and you still want to go, maybe she will have left.

There is quite a challenging drive to the Tolkien Campground. You have to go up 4 miles of rutted, gravel road that is quite narrow. It was slow going, about 10-12 miles per hour most of the way. However, the spot is lovely. On the first night only one family was there for a few hours and then one tent camper came. On the second night another RV arrived. Essentially we had the campground to ourselves most of the time. Guess the fact that this is so far from anything is what makes it special. We camped in spot 7, which was tucked into the redwoods. We had to do a little leveling, but not crazy. The sites are quite shaded, so expect little solar input. The fire pits are quite nice and the there are picnic tables. The best aspect of this campground is the proximity to trails - both mountain biking and hiking. There is a great mountain bike loop that is about 14 miles. Then there is a strenuous hike to the beach that is about 10 miles round trip from the campground. Note that coming back up the inclines may be challenging.

I'll start with the roads. I drive a 30ft trailer so this is from that perspective. If you're in a car or small camper, skip to the next paragraph. Once you turn off the 101, the road is super narrow and the turnouts are wrought with giant dips. Take your time. There is one extremely steep section with really tight switch backs, but there are only about 3. I would honk the horn as I approached them blindly. Once you turn off onto the dirt road It's just wide enough to be comfortable. There are some rather steep sections where I put the truck in 4wd high just to get added traction. A buddy made it out just fine in a 2wd F150 with a 28 ft. trailer, but again, I'm glad I have 4wd. The tree overhang may not be an issue for some, but I now have small hair scratches all over the upper sides of my trailer and although not noticeable to most, they are to me and for that reason I'd never take a trailer back. I'm anal retentive so maybe you wouldn't care? DON'T pass the campground sign. The GPS will tell you to keep going, but DON'T. I got out and walked up the road to make sure before driving any farther. There are not a lot of opportunities to turn a truck and trailer around on this road. Our friends got stuck in the mud on their way in because they went past the sign and down the road and then tried to turn their truck and 28ft. trailer around. The right hand turn into the campground is steep and tight and once in the campground you have some overhanging trees to deal with again. I had buddies pull those branches back. Then there was some tight maneuvering around trees until I backed into spot 7, perfect for a trailer and right next to the trail head. The campground itself is awesome. Sites are well spaced. No water, but vault toilets and trash. Sites are level with benches and firepits. VERY quiet and we had 16 people and 7 dogs there. With no camp host or rangers, we let the dogs roam as they are all well behaved which was really nice. Most people up there had dogs as well. It was super windy when we were there over memorial day weekend 2018. Not sure if it's always like that. The 11 mile MTB loop is awesome as is the terrain park and pump track. The hike down to the beach is a strenuous 10 miles, but also something awesome to do. Overall I highly recommend this spot for tent/car campers, just not big 'ol trailers like mine. Doable, but not recommended.

This is a great campground if you intend to do any mountain biking at the King Range National Conservation Area. First, the road is rough to get here, but if you're coming from Shelter Cove Road from the south (driving north), it's the first campground you'll hit. If you go past the campground, the road gets progressively worse. Between Horse Mountain and the park exit to the north, I considered turning around several times in a pretty capable AWD SUV, but I made it. I personally would feel comfortable SLOWLY towing a trailer or driving a high-clearance small RV to Tolkan, but not further north. (There are other campgrounds in the conservation area, which require hikes in). Anyway, the campground: no hookups, no water, and when I was there, no other people. I had a sliver of Verizon here, but no service further north.

We camped here because of the Paradise Royale Mountain Bike trails and bike park. It is an amazing little spot deep in The Lost Coast. The downside is that it's really hard to get there with a trailer/camper. The hwy in to Shelter Cove is steep (15-18%) and curvy. Then you have 4 miles of dirt that are also steep and narrow. The drive in and out gave us a lot of stress so you have to be in for an adventure.